lonelydream: (Default)
周子舒|周絮 (Zhou Zishu | Zhou Xu) ([personal profile] lonelydream) wrote2023-10-29 10:27 pm

INBOX (for eastbound)



Zhou Xu

missives | encounters
lanclan: (81)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-12 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know, I assume they are cruel jokes made by whoever tailors them for us. Although, [ he cocks his head, smile quirking, ] mine is not so inaccurate. I avoided all marriage offers in Gusu.

[ He is not even an average siren, he has no idea how to even start. ]

Don't take them to heart.
lanclan: (17)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-12 03:47 pm (UTC)(link)
There were always other matters to concern myself with.

[ Fiddling with his device on his lap, he smoothes its metal wings out. ]

I arrived here from my seclusion. Yancai, the realm we were in then, was a fishing town upon a lake of the undead, and I was not ... quite myself. Wen Kexing arrived after we were transported to a grand, decaying old manor house, that was where I found him arguing in the kitchens with the ghosts.
lanclan: (47)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-12 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
He helped me pick out seasoning spices for my friends, as I had no idea which might be poison swapped out by the spirits.

[ He doesn't owe Zhou Zishu the history of his friendship with Wen Kexing but there is something about the other man that invites Xichen's sympathy: Wen Kexing is not his zhiji, after all. ]

I set up a sanctuary in the upstairs of the manor with food and beds, sometimes he would come by. Then, when we were in the jungle, he revealed he had no shelter so I shared my small stone house with him, [ a fond smile returns, ] where he gave me a reason to be useful and taught me how to cook.
lanclan: (14)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-13 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[ His device starts to bleep crazily, quickly responded to with a soft snort. It's Wen Kexing, of course, but Xichen puts the device away after that. Let Wen Kexing howl at the sky instead. ]

You're very kind, as he said, and every bit as terrifically handsome too as he could not stop professing.

[ He tilts his head, giving Zhao Zishu a thoughtful look. ]

I don't wish to pry, so I shall simply say I hope you will each make one another very happy.
lanclan: (17)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-16 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
I doubt that. Three months does not a zhiji make.

[ His eyes sparkle with humour as he says as much. Close as they are, Wen Kexing and Xichen still have a lot to learn about each other ... or at least, he senses they do. For a while, Wen Kexing wasn't forthright about his own misery at all.

He refills Zhou Zishu's cup, lending him his full attention with patient dark eyes and a soft, curious smile. ]


I would like to hear more about you, if you don't mind.
lanclan: (18)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-16 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
It's quite rude to imply I have bad taste by wishing to get to know you, after I've said so.

[ That twinkle remains in his eyes as he sips his tea, otherwise serene as he lightly teases him. ]
lanclan: (31)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-16 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Success! ]

What you like, what you dislike ... Master Zhou is very private, I know that much, but it only makes me more invested in finding out these things.
lanclan: (49)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-16 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a sharp dichotomy of areas to cover in two short sentences.

[ He straightens his smile before it can broaden too much, amused even as he relates. ]

I could say the same, although my little trick of using my golden core to burn up alcohol and prevent any drunkenness once made Wen Kexing very mad, so I suppose if he had his way I wouldn't drink at all.

[ "A waste". ]
lanclan: (47)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-17 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, forgive me.

[ It's so strange and foreign a concept, to think of someone not even knowing about these things. ]

Every cultivator has a golden core, in my world, and it improves over time. It strengthens your spiritual energy and physical body; the qi you saw emanating from Liebing was evidence of mine.

[ Being so carefree with it for a demo like that, Xichen has plenty of qi to spare. ]

On a more commonplace basis, I use my golden core to prevent inebriation during audiences, meetings ... that sort of thing.
lanclan: (69)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-17 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
I will tell you all about this subject, if you like. I'm at your service.

[ Sounding happy about it, too! Also, knowing what he does from Wen Kexing about Zhou Zishu's health ... ]

Some become great warriors, others become artisans ... or healers.
lanclan: (21)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-17 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ After a moment, simply says, ]

He has been extremely worried about you.

[ Xichen knows, he says with a tactful look, that Zhou Zishu's prospects of living a long life back home are in flux. ]
lanclan: (24)

[personal profile] lanclan 2023-11-17 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
Yes.

[ Zhou Zishu has been nothing but polite and respectful of Xichen, he can treat him the same way. That includes keeping a secret he thinks will upset Wen Kexing. ]

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